West Amwell Fire Company Hosts Bus Extrication Drill in Hunterdon County

By RICHARD MAXWELLCorrespondent

1st Responder Network

Story Number110718101

Disclaimer:
This article is a direct street report from our correspondent and has not been edited by the 1st Responder newsroom.

By Rich Maxwell

On Sunday, November 4th, first responders from several southern Hunterdon County fire companies and a rescue squad attended a school bus extrication drill hosted by West Amwell Fire Department

By Rich Maxwell

By Rich Maxwell

By Rich Maxwell

By Rich Maxwell

By Rich Maxwell

By Rich Maxwell

By Rich Maxwell

Several Fire Companies and a Rescue Squad gathered at the West Amwell Firehouse on 11/4 to hone their extrication skills. An old school bus was donated to the fire company by the South Hunterdon Regional High School’s Transportation Dept. for the drill that was set up by Fire Chief Jeff Ent.

Gary Breuger, a member of West Amwell Fire Co. and Flemington-Raritan Rescue Squad, led the course of instruction for the day. After about an hour-and-a-half of classroom, the group of first responders went outside to the parking lot where the bus awaited its demise.

The class was divided up into three teams for the first practical exercise, stabilizing the vehicle. Three different types of stabilization devices were used, one by each team.

After the first task was achieved, the class was then reorganized into two groups.

Their next assignment was to cut open the bus. One team was assigned the back of the bus, while the other attacked the center side of the vehicle. They also had to remove the seats that were close to the portion of the wall they had to cut open. The list of tools involved ranged from electric saws, power cutters, spreaders and rams, just to name a few.

Once each team completed their assignment, they switched locations and tackled the opposite side, mirroring what the other team had extricated.

Everyone then took a break for lunch, which was provided by Columbian Fire Co.’s Canteen 4, who served up great chow for the troops.

After lunch, the third exercise involving “pulling” the steering column so that a trapped driver could be disengaged from the dashboard of the bus was started. For this phase the whole class participated as one group. Three different techniques were addressed to achieve the task at hand. Some of the equipment utilized included chains, four by fours, cribbing, come-a-longs and spreaders.

Everyone walked away with at least one new skill at the conclusion of the drill.